COST OP PRODUCTION OF APPLES, PAYETTE VALLEY, IDAHO. 17 



Table VI. — Pruning, thinning, and propping costs when prorated over all orchards 

 studied in Payette Valley, Idaho. 



Operation. 



Pruning.. 

 T hinnin g 

 Propping 



Per cent 

 of growers 

 practic- 

 ing. 



Man- 

 hours. 



100.00 

 97. 37 

 78.95 



47.41 

 47.36 

 6.00 



Horse- 

 hours. 



Cost. 



Per acre. Per tree. Per box 



8.15 



S9.48 

 9.47 

 2.42 



.150 

 .150 

 .038 



SO. 0281 

 .0281 

 .0072 



PROPPING. 



Propping is not practiced so generally in the Payette region as in 

 many other apple regions. It is found that practically 79 per cent 

 of the growers prop. Where propping is not practiced at all it is 

 the general rule for the growers to lighten the limbs by careful thinning 

 and thus avoid the breaking down of the trees laden with fruit. 

 Most growers haul out and set up props in a single operation, a wagon 

 or truck being drawn by two horses, with one or two men to complete 

 the crew. The cost of tending the props after being set up is very 

 Little. Board props are used almost exclusively, although a few 

 growers use poles. These board props are usually 1 inch in thickness 

 and vary in width from 2\ inches to 4 inches. These props usually 

 can be bought for about $16 per thousand board feet. The length 

 varies from 8 to 14 feet, and the boards usually are notched or 

 cleated at the top. The propping cost (S3. 07 per acre) is not quite 

 one-third of the pruning or thinning cost and is 2.35 per cent of the 

 total net labor cost, or practically 1 per cent of the total annual net 

 cost of production. (See Table V.) 



SOIL MANAGEMENT. 



There are two distinct types of soil management in the valley, the 

 clean cultural and the mulch crop. The mulch-crop system of 

 management as practiced in the valley is largely one of keeping the 

 orchard in sod for a period of years, so that, properly speaking, 

 it receives very little benefit from a leguminous mulch crop. Some 

 of these orchards are in bluegrass, but all are classed as mulch-crop 

 orchards, as they are under the same general system of management. 

 Sixteen of the 38 orchards are under the clean-cultural and 22 under 

 the mulch-crop system. The average annual cost of plowing and 

 cultivating on the former is $9.37 per acre, while in the case of the 

 latter it is $2.72. 



The system of soil management practiced is the most important 

 factor influencing the health of the tree and the general producing 

 capacity of the orchard. 



19461°— 18— Bull. G3G 3 



